I was truly honored that Trace & Kristie asked me to photograph their wedding, and as far as photographing first weddings solo, I couldn't think of a better couple to start with. It was awesome to see the way they looked at each other throughout the day, at times like there was no one else around. And the moment Kristie came down the aisle and both the bride and groom started tearing up... I still smile every time I look at those images. Such a sweet and telling sign of their relationship. It's obvious they are best friends. The ceremony was at the former Governors' Mansion in Bismarck, North Dakota. A beautiful location and what I thought would be a nice escape from the Texas summer sauna weather. I thought wrong. According to the locals, the weather on the day of the wedding - low 90's and humid - was "unusual". Of course it was. Nonetheless, it was a perfect day for these two. My favorite moment of the day? When the limo taking the wedding party back to the reception while we did a few portraits of just Trace and Kristie never came back for us. Not so funny for Trace and Kristie at the time, but they handled like two people who didn't care because they just got married. Besides, it'll make for a great story for them as they remember their big day. It already is a great story. The funniest part was Kristie standing in the street trying to flag down passing cars to give us a ride to the reception (see images below)... the friendly Bismarckians musta just thought she was doing a 'hey-look-at-me-I-just-got-married' wave because they would just honk, wave and drive on by. Golden. I'll post a slideshow tomorrow showing more images, but here's a few of my favorites to hold you over until then. Again, congrats, Trace & Kristie, and thank you for trusting in me to capture and preserve your wedding day. May God bless you in every new step together.

This might be my favorite image of the day. Both Trace and Kristie were tearing up when they saw each other for the first time that day.

Kristie's dad was the sweetest guy. Soft -spoken, but with a big heart... and he plays the accordion!

Ahhh the Red Eye. This is a homemade tradition for Kristie's family. There was a whole separate hotel room dedicated to serving it up during the reception.

And finally, here's me photographing the whole gig on this professional point-n-shoot. I was worried about bringing all me gear to Bisamarck, so I packed light. [grin]